Fence, mountains, and clouds~Friday's Fences~091412

A pretty view of the San Jacinto mountains, a fence, and clouds last weekend.  Friday's Fences for September 14, 2012.  To visit Friday's Fences, please go to:   http://lifeaccordingtojanandjer.blogspot.com/

Quail~Nature's Notes~091312

We had a family of quail come visit us twice a day, early morning and late afternoon, last weekend at the cabin up in our local mountains (Idyllwild).  I actually think it was two families.  There were over 20 of them! They came up from Strawberry Creek and its lush growth, which was right below our cabin.  Unfortunately, right as I was taking these pictures, a Cooper's hawk silently flew down and grabbed a blue jay who was also enjoying the seeds I threw out for the quail.  ACK!  I heard a squawk, saw the jay in the hawk's talons, and the hawk took off!  The quail scattered and I didn't see them again that morning.  Nature's Notes for September 13, 2012.  To visit Nature Notes, please go to:   http://ramblingwoods.com/

First sign of fall

Finally!  I am SO DONE with summer!  I just heard on the news that a rain cell has stalled over part of the Coachella Valley and that area has received over 2" of rain and is flooding.  And, GUESS where I have to drive this morning for an all-day training?  Yup.  I'll update you tomorrow.

Idyllwild weekend

Hubby and I booked a cabin up in Idyllwild this past weekend to get OUT of the desert heat.  I was tired and exhausted from the Labor Day weekend because I had to stay with my elderly aunt and make sure she took her meds in a timely manner and she didn't double up on them (which she did TWICE before I got there!)...it was a LONG, exhausting 3 day weekend over Labor Day.  I really needed to get some REST this weekend and since it was another scorcher here in the desert (with humidity), up the hill we went.  Idyllwild is at 5,300 feet, up in the tall pines.  A storm front was moving into Southern California and we sat out on our porch and watched the thunderheads move in. We both sat and fed squirrels, blue jays, and quail.  We watched a small cottontail come up for meals, too.  Unfortunately, Sunday morning a Cooper's hawk spied all the blue jays, swooped down, grabbed one right next to where I was standing, and took off almost before I even knew what was happening!  He was that fast and silent!  Here are some pics from our weekend.

Desert sunrise

We don't always get clouds here in our desert, but when we do, I usually run outside with one of my cameras to take photos, like on this morning.  Sorry about the street light....I couldn't get it out of my frame of focus!

My morning fan club

I put COSTCO birdseed out for the neighborhood birds every morning and these doves were on the phone lines the other morning.  They also line up on my front fence if I'm late getting their food out to them!  There are black-ringed doves and little doves, too.  We also have a scrub jay who lives in our neighborhood.

Palm Desert cross~Our World Tuesday~090412

This is the Palm Desert cross, which is located in our local mountains.  There are a couple of hiking trails up there to it, but I've never been on them.  Instead, I just go outside my front door and look at it every morning!  I took this on the morning of the full moon, while I was waiting for it to set beneath our mountains. OWT for September 4, 2012.  To visit OWT, please go to:   http://ourworldtuesdaymeme.blogspot.com/